Research briefings

This page provides access to research briefings produced by the House of Commons Library, the House of Lords Library and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST). You can filter the research briefings by date, type, or one of 350 topics. Pick your options from the dropdown menus.

Glossary

Commons Briefing papers: Papers providing in-depth and impartial analysis on every major piece of primary legislation and on other topics of public and parliamentary concern. Regular statistics papers are also published.

Lords Library Notes: Authored publications by the research section of the House of Lords Library that provide analysis of Bills, subjects for debate in the House and other issues of interest to Members.

POSTbriefs: Responsive policy briefings from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology based on mini-literature reviews and peer review, typically commissioned by select committees and library research services.

POSTnotes: Proactive four-page policy briefings from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology based on reviews of the research literature, interviews with stakeholders and peer review, commissioned by the POST Board.

The UK is party to hundreds of international treaties with third states or organisations, many of them on trade, by virtue of its EU membership. To continue to benefit from the advantages of these agreements, the Government has been seeking to replace them in a UK bilateral context. The Government has prioritised trade agreements, but has also agreed replacement agreements covering aviation services and safety, and road transport, for example. But Parliament is not happy about the way the Government is carrying out this 'treaty continuity programme' and Committees in both Houses have called for a greater scrutiny role for Parliament in treaty-making processes. This paper looks at what has been going on and what Parliamentary Committees in both Houses have asked for. It includes a table showing where we are with these treaties so far and what sort of scrutiny they have undergone in their original form as EU treaties and currently as replacement treaties.

This briefing provides information on the provision of physical education and sport in schools, including National Curriculum requirements, funding, the School Games, and regulations relating to school playing fields.

This briefing answers frequently asked questions about banking scams, and describes: the scale of the problem; the types of scam; what help is available for victims; and, government and industry action.

The EU has over a thousand international agreements with non-EU countries, covering trade, aviation, nuclear co-operation and other issues. These will cease to apply to the UK when it leaves the EU. The Government has identified 158 agreements with non-EU countries that it is seeking in order to replace these arrangements in the event a no deal Brexit. Some agreements have already been concluded, but engagement is ongoing for most of these and some will not be in place by the scheduled Brexit day of 31 October.

The definition of 'EEA citizen' in the rules for the Home Office's settled status scheme has recently changed. What are the consequences? How do these changes affect the people of Northern Ireland? Why are some people unhappy with these changes? What does British nationality law say about people born in Northern Ireland? How do these nationality laws interact with the birthright provision of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement? What does the European Convention on Human Rights say about identity and immigration? What do the people of Northern Ireland say when they are asked about their nationality? This paper looks at the complex issues behind all these questions.

This House of Lords Library Briefing Pack contains a selection of material relevant to the forthcoming House of Lords debate on the report from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Heritage Rail on ‘Engaging the Next Generation: Young People and Heritage Railways’.

UK power generation from wind has increased in recent years due to sharp reductions in the costs of constructing and operating wind power facilities. Onshore wind power provides the cheapest electricity of any form of new generation built, and offshore is expected to continue to reduce in cost. Generating wind power does not emit greenhouse gases, hence future growth will help the UK meet its GHG emissions reduction targets. This POSTnote examines the innovations that have enabled wind power cost reductions, associated policy considerations and challenges for future deployment.

Passengers rights are guaranteed through a combination of EU regulation, international conventions and resolutions, as well as voluntary commitments of airlines. The applicability of these rights depends on the airline a person is travelling with and where they are departing from.